The Gator Student Alliance is being formed to combat one issue all students face: tuition hikes.
The Gator Student Alliance formed after 87 percent of students who voted in the fall Student Government elections called to repeal the current tuition increases, said Matias Kaplan, a 19-year-old microbiology sophomore.
The group hopes to combat the yearly 15-percent tuition hikes by Florida state legislature and UF administration, he said.
The alliance is a coalition of large student groups on campus and will formally introduce itself at a press conference at noon on Turlington Plaza.
It consists of more than 22 student organizations, including Students for a Democratic Society, Graduate Assistants United and Students for Justice in Palestine, group organizer and anthropology junior Robbey Hayes said.
Each group is represented by a delegate who is a liaison between the Gator Student Alliance and his or her organization. All delegates will formally announce their association with the alliance at the news conference, said Kaplan, who is the delegate for Students for a Democratic Society.
The news conference will kick-start the Gator Student Alliance's week of action, during which the alliance will educate students about the cause and distribute fliers and posters, Kaplan said.
This week of action will take place alongside a statewide "Stop Tuition Hikes" week. Other universities, including the University of South Florida, Florida Atlantic University, the University of Central Florida and Florida State University, are organizing demonstrations, too.
The alliance will host a banner-making event Tuesday in which students will be able to express their opinions, and it will host a discussion about tuition hikes on Wednesday.
The organization is also hosting a rally on Thursday that coincides with a board of trustees meeting, Hayes said.
The rally will start on Turlington Plaza and end in Emerson Hall. All event times and locations will be announced at the news conference.
"It's an amazing showing of expression of the tuition-hikes issue," Hayes said.
